Supply bottlenecks create price shocks. This kind of economic interference to distribution can be seen in the price of memory chips or oil.

Bottlenecks may arise from various social situations. Studies of human bottlenecks indicate people tend to panic and behave in a manner that exacerbates the blocking effect. For instance, with hindsight people escaping a fire in a room who all slowly walk to a single door, instead of falling over each other in a stampede, are more likely to survive.